新鲜语篇:高三英语课堂的“增鲜剂”

2017-09-25 10:58吴敏
知音励志·社科版 2017年4期
关键词:英语阅读

吴敏

摘 要:作为英语语言学习和高考的重中之重,阅读教学备受广大高中英语教师的关注。笔者通过分析制约学生取得高分的因素和新鲜语篇输入的重要性,以新概念英语教学为例,探究高三课堂新鲜语篇输入的方法和有效性。

【关键词】英语阅读;新鲜语篇;新鲜语篇输入

1 阅读的重要性

众所周知,世界各国间激烈的竞争和日益紧密的联系赋予了英语这门语言学科在教学中的重要地位。英语作为一门语言学科,是听、说、读、写有机结合的整体,各项技能在语言学习中相辅相成、相互促进。作为四项基本技能之一的阅读,是掌握英语语言知识、获取信息、提高语言应用能力的基础。在英语学习中,阅读起着主导作用,它往往决定着其它三种技能的发展和提高,有助于培养良好的语感,形成正确的英语思维,是中学英语教学过程中不可忽视的一环。国内外教育学家一直强调以大量阅读为主要方法来增加学生的语言输入量,进而提高英语语言技能。

同时,新课程标准要求学生能从一般文章中获取和处理主要信息;能理解文章主旨和作者意图;能通过上下文猜测生词意思,理解语篇意义;能通过文章中的线索进行推理;能根据需要从网络等资源中获取信息;能阅读适合高中生的英语报刊或杂志等,对高中英语阅读教学和学生阅读能力提出了很高的要求。阅读理解是吸收书面信息的手段,是人们对书面信息进行认知并且构建深层理解的心理过程,是语言发展的一项重要活动。阅读能力是一种语言的综合能力,是书面交际中通过文字积极获取信息的能力。

江苏省考试说明要求考生在30分钟的时间内阅读4篇不同题材、体裁的短文并完成文章后的题目。不仅考查考生快速捕捉信息、准确理解特定细节以及复杂句子的能力,而且考查考生通过文章的表层进行合理推断、挖掘文章隐含意义的能力。近几年,江苏省高考的阅读理解加大了对考生理解、概括、推理和判断力的考查。阅读理解30分,在整張试卷中占有非常重要的比重并且在考试中起着非常关键的作用,可谓 “得阅读者得天下”。

因此,无论从英语作为一门语言学科的特点,还是从新课程标准的以及目前高考英语试题结构来看,阅读在高中英语教学中都具有非常重要的地位。

2 制约学生取得阅读高分的因素

词汇量大,篇幅长,长难句较多是近年来高考阅读的特点。如2014年江苏省英语高考卷中D篇有696个单词,2015年D篇长达605个单词,2016年D篇则有686个单词。有专家测算江苏考生阅读速度大约应为每分钟130词。正如英国著名的语言学家D.A.Wilkins曾经说过,“没有语法,能表达的内容很少,没有词汇则什么也表达不了”。学生的词汇量小是制约学生取得高分的至关重要的一个原因。不难想象,一个连单词都记不清、只学会寥寥数个单词、胸无点墨之人,如何能看懂语篇所表达的意思?更无从写出好文章。学生只有通过广泛阅读各种语篇,背诵大量的词汇、长短句乃至整篇的文章,才能做到有效积累,掌握考纲要求的3500词及500个常用词组,阅读理解中才能不因为不熟悉单词而不能理解句子、段落甚至语篇的含义。同时,广泛地获取素材,写作也水到渠成。

知识面窄,是制约学生取得高分的另一个因素。江苏省高考中考查的知识面广,涉及政治、经济、文化、地理、历史、生物、科技等等各个方面。如:马克·吐温小说评论、机会成本、“生气”的影响、志愿者服务社会、自由与责任、人类与黑猩猩、厄尔尼诺等等。阅读可以使学生开阔眼界、了解西方风俗文化。语言是文化的结晶和载体,文化又影响着语言。而江苏省目前的牛津教材阅读量极为有限,无法满足提高学生英语阅读能力的要求。正如鲁梅哈特(Rumelhart)曾经指出,一个读者不能正确理解一篇文章的原因可能有三种情况:其中之一是读者不具备与文章内容相关的图式。也就是学生缺乏对与文章主题有关的内容熟悉度或关于文章内容的过去经验和背景知识,也会发现文章晦涩难懂。反之,足够的背景知识又能帮助学习者预测、验证、消除歧义,加深读者对文章的理解。通过大量的阅读,学生可以了解到不同国家的历史地理、政治经济、文学哲学、宗教、科技等,从而不仅促进了英语的学习,还使学生增长了知识,增加了阅历,丰富了生活。可见,大量地阅读有助于英语各种技能的提高,增强语感,了解西方风俗文化,形成英语思维。因此,英语阅读教学中新鲜语篇的输入尤为重要。

3 新鲜语篇输入的重要性

进行新鲜语篇输入,不仅可以使学生巩固课本所学的语言基础知识结构和阅读技巧,而且还能开阔学生的眼界和知识面,使他们熟悉各种文章体裁和风格,从而提高他们阅读各种文体的适应能力。同时,也是吸收英语语言材料、拓展和丰富语言知识、扩大词汇量的重要手段之一,可以为英语口语、听力和写作能力的发展打下坚实的基础,也能使学生从英语的阅读中逐渐意识到学习英语的真正价值和乐趣所在,继而在高中的英语学习中使学生们树立学好英语的自信心。此外,增加新鲜语篇输入,能帮助学生培养语感,锻炼英语的使用能力和加强思维能力。

高三课堂教学,尤其是模块十一教学结束以后,很多学校就进行机械式的试卷讲练教学。其实,一味的做题讲题会让学生觉得英语学习枯燥无味,学习缺乏乐趣,逐渐导致学生学习的积极主动性下降。适时地补充新鲜语篇,既能拓展学生的知识面、扩大词汇量,适应了高考的要求,又能给高三英语学习增加生动性和趣味性,可以说一举多得。笔者认为,新鲜语篇输入就是高三英语课堂教学的增鲜剂,不仅缓解了做题讲题的枯燥感,还为学生打开了一扇窗,开启奇妙的探究世界之旅。

4 高三课堂如何进行新鲜语篇输入

笔者认为,高一阶段新鲜语篇的输入应注重激发学生学习兴趣,培养语感;高二则重在积累,训练思维;而高三的新鲜语篇输入,除了给枯燥的练习增添一抹亮丽的色彩之外,要以综合训练,多元提升为宗旨,即通过课堂新鲜语篇的输入,提高学生听说读写综合能力。笔者以新概念3Lesson 41 为例,展示课堂教学如何进行新鲜语篇的输入。选择新概念3是因为这套经典教材知识面广,语言地道,第三册月目前江苏省高考对阅读的要求想匹配。当然,因为课堂教学时间有限,只能有选择性地进行部分篇章的阅读教学。笔者采用的是下发如下讲义的形式,而非整本书,为前两个环节进行设计准备。endprint

Lesson41 Illusions(幻想) of Pastoral(田园的) peace

The quiet life of the country has never me. City born and city bred, I have always regarded the country as something you look at through a train window, or something you visit during the week-end. Most of my friends live in the city, yet they always go into raptures(欣喜) at the mere mention of the country. Though they extol(贊美) the of the peaceful life, only one of them has ever gone to live in the country and he was back in town within six months. Even he still lives under the illusion that country life is somehow town life. He is forever talking about the friendly people, the clean atmosphere, the closeness to nature and the gentle pace of living. Nothing can be compared, he , with the first cock crow, the twittering of birds at dawn, the sight of the rising sun glinting(闪烁) on the trees and pastures(牧场). This idyllic(田园诗的) pastoral scene is only part of the picture. My friend mention the long and friendless winter evenings which are interrupted only by an occasional visit to the local cinema-virtually the only form of entertainment. He says nothing about the poor selection of goods in the shops, or about those unfortunate people who have to travel from the country to the city every day to get to work. Why people are prepared to a four hour journey each day for the dubious(可疑的) privilege of living in the country is beyond me. They could be saved so much and expense if they chose to live in the city where they rightly belong.

If you can do without the few pastoral pleasures of the country, you will find the city can provide you with the best that life can offer. You never have to travel miles to see your friends. They invariably(总是) live nearby and are always for an informal chat or an evening's entertainment. Some of my in the country come up to town once or twice a year to visit the theatre as a special treat. For them this is a major operation which considerable planning. As the play to its close, they wonder whether they will ever catch that last train home. The city dweller(居住者) never experiences of this sort. The latest exhibitions, films, or plays are only a short bus ride away. Shopping, too, is always a pleasure. There is so much variety that you never have to make do with second best. Country people run wild when they go shopping in the city and stagger(摇晃) home as many of the necessities of life as they can carry. Nor is the city without its moments of beauty. There is something about the warm glow shed by advertisements on cold wet winter nights. Few things could be more impressive than the peace that descends(下降) on city streets at week-ends when the thousands that travel to work every day are tucked(缩进) a way in their homes in the country. It has always been a to me why city dwellers, who appreciate all these things, obstinately(固执地) pretend that they would prefer to live in the country.endprint

第一个环节要求学生根据文章的内容,自我思考理解,尝试填入恰当的词。这一环节的设计旨在引导学生寻找文章的写作线索,关注上下文语境。

第二个环节为听力,即dictation,略高于江苏省高考要求。从所填的appealed to,occasionally,virtues,superior to,maintains,fails to,tolerate,misery,available,acquaintances,involves,draws,anxieties,loaded with,comforting,deserted,mystery这些词及词组中,不难看出,都是江苏省高考要求的常考词汇,并且是写作中的常用词。因此,这个环节既训练和考查学生的听力能力,又有助于督促学生词汇背诵积累任务的完成。

第三个环节通过question and answer以及multiple choice的形式对语篇进行分析。

Q1: How long did one of the authors city friends live in the country?

Q2: Why does the author find fault with his friends description of the country?

Q3: Why does the author consider people who have to travel from the country to the city every day unfortunate?

Q4: What is the genre(体裁)of the passage? How does he develop the passage?

Q5: What is the main difference between the writer and most of his friends?

A. They often visit the country but he only spent one weekend there.

B. Unlike them, being brought up in the city, he can appreciate its worth.

C. In contrast to them, he finds city people friendlier than country people.

D. He thinks them hypocritical(虛伪的) to maintain a preference for country life.

Q6: What advantage has the city dweller over the country dweller in terms of entertainment?

A. He can entertain his country friends more often than they can him.

B. His choice of entertainment is wide and within easy reach of him.

C. As he travels by bus and not by train, he can see the latest plays.

D. He does not need a major operation when planning a visit to the theatre.

Q7: When he speaks of the beauty to be found in the city, the writer

A. alludes(暗示) to the comparative cheerlessness of winter night in the country.

B. means that if more people settled in the city they would find peace.

C. advertises the fact that the city is a warmer place than the country.

D. implies that the country is less peaceful than the city at weekends.

这个环节中既有高考题型,又有常规的开放式题型,有助于学生对语篇的理解和把握,也能利用有限的课堂时间探讨阅读解题技巧。同时,通过文章的学习拓宽知识面。

第四个环节,summary。within about 30 words, please give an account of the advantage which the author attributes to living in the city. Use your own words.2013年考纲要求学生又提取并概括信息的能力,从2014年起江苏省高考连续三年通过书面表达读写作文的形式考查这一能力。

第五个环节,积累好词好句,存入word bank。如:The quiet life of the country has never appealed to me. City born and city bred, I have always regarded the country as something, extol the virtues of the peaceful life, He is forever talking about the friendly people. Nothing can be compared, he maintains. fails to mention, Why people are prepared to tolerate a four hour journey each day for the dubious privilege of living in the country is beyond me.等等阅读及写作中常用的词组和句式,扩大了词汇量。在语篇中学习词汇句型,提高了输入的有效性。

当然,不同的文体有不同的处理方法,这里笔者通过一个例子来探讨新鲜语篇在高三繁重而枯燥的练习生活中的一点小小的舒缓作用。另外,笔者认为,时文美文以及试卷中的文章也可以作为我们的信息源。如:美国大选,试卷中的Pride and Prejudice for the modern world与原著节选对比欣赏等等,希望通过这些,能让学生在听说读写得以多元提升。

5 结束语

教育家苏霍姆林斯基先生指出,教学应使学生产生发现惊奇、满足求知欲的愉快和创造的欢乐等各种情感体验,从而使学习带着高涨的、激动的情绪进行学习和思考,使教学成为一个充满活力和激情的活动。因此,在英语课堂教学活动中,要注重教学艺术,力争活动要目的化、情景化和知识化,使每一个学生都乐意参与其中,体验到学习的乐趣。

学生阅读能力的提高是一个漫长的过程,是学生主动积极构建的过程。老师起的是引领作用,希望能在我们老师的引导和帮助下,尽可能地拓宽学生的知识面,培养学生学英语的兴趣,提高学生的阅读量和综合运用语言的能力。从而达到了事半功倍的效果。

参考文献

[1]教育部.普通高中英语课程标准(实验)[M].北京:人民教育出版社,2003.

[2]桂诗春著.新编心理语言学[M].上海: 上海外语教育出版社,2000.

[3]章洪霞.英语课文整体教学的三步曲[J]. 镇江市高等专科学校学报,1996(01).

[4]黄国文著.语篇分析的理论与实践[M]. 上海:上海外教出版社,2001.endprint

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